


Books And Books And Books

by ryoku



Category: Magic Knight Rayearth
Genre: F/M, Japanese is hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-27
Updated: 2015-02-27
Packaged: 2018-03-15 11:25:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3445373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryoku/pseuds/ryoku
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He had noticed it before, but the whole thing probably really starts on Fuu's 15th birthday, in a very, very, unrelated way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Books And Books And Books

He had noticed it before, but the whole thing probably really starts on Fuu's 15th birthday, in a very, very, unrelated way. 

The Magic Knights arrive in jackets and boots and scarves. Umi is carrying her cake -Ferio has found her cakes to be delicious- and Hikaru has presents in hand. Ferio has been organizing the party on his end as best he can, and the whole castle is decorated in streamers and banners and glowing green lanterns. It isn't perfect, but he damn well tries to make it that way. He isn't very good at this sort of thing, he's still learning how to entertain people, and plan events, and all this other social hullabaloo that he ran away from the castle to be rid of. He can't say he likes it, but he is trying. Fuu is worth it. He isn't going to match Lantis and Eagle's flare for the dramatics (he stifles a laugh when he things that), and he can't compare to the magic and pageantry that both Master Mage Clef and Ascot worked for Umi's birthday. That does make him irritated at times, but this is his Fuu, and he knows that she doesn't need all those things; even if he wishes he could do them for her. It's already irritating enough that he's one of the most normal guys she could have picked to be interested in, so a normal birthday seems like a blow to his pride. He really should have tried to plan this half a year ahead of time, and not just two months in advance.

But Fuu is not displeased with the celebration. He has music and dancing, and games and a "The Pillar Says" rule where Fuu gets to order around anyone at the party to do anything she pleases. Suffice to say, she's a kinder ruler than he would be. It's a good time; everyone eats and sings and Ferio gets to sweep Fuu onto the dance floor, twirl her around and lift her up. It certainly isn't what any of the other parties were, but it's good too, he decides. Later that evening, when everything has quieted down, and the decorations need to be cleaned up, the two of them stow away out of the castle. They take a long walk along the ocean, holding hands and watching the moon move across the sky.

"Why do you wear a jacket when you come, and take it off when you get here?" It feels like an innocent question, but the look Fuu gives him is full of intrigue. 

He can see her mind working a mile a minute as she tilts her head and gives him a dazzling smile. "Because in Tokyo, there is a lot of snow and ice." It seems like a simple answer, but he knows it isn't. Fuu is looking at him, and he's suppose to connect the dots. He doesn't, and she could wait a long time, and he still wouldn't, so eventually she prompts him in a different way. "What do you think of ice magic?" 

Now that is a question he can answer, but it's a question he knows he's going answer wrong. "It's atrocious. Makes your teeth chatter and it's disgustingly cold." He shudders at the thought of it, remembering how Master Mage Clef once tried to teach him magic, and how, as a much younger man, Ferio would have none of it. 

Fuu's smile is sweet as she nods at his answer, and waves her hand. "Now, imagine someone strong enough to cast a spell to make almost all of Cephiro that cold. Cold enough that the snow stays for weeks, and the ice doesn't melt." He gives her a look of abject horror, and she giggles. "That, is what we call 'Winter' and right now, in Tokyo, it's winter. So, to stay warm, we wear jackets and scarves." 

Ferio gives her a look of confusion, before scrunching up his face. "And the person who cast the spell must be very strong, so you can't go and just kill them." Then, Ferio realizes the error in his thinking, and looks over at Fuu in confusion. "But, you said there is no magic on the Earth." 

Fuu swings their laced hands, and looks up at the moon. "Not in the way that magic exists in Cephiro." She looks over at him, a patient, gentle smile on her face. "Winter isn't a spell someone cast. It's based on the axis of the earth and the shifting of the two poles." 

Ferio nods; he's learned enough to know what she means, even if he doesn't actually know what she's saying. "Then it's science." Because science is a blanket word for things that make no sense to him. Fuu uses it a lot. She nods, and lets her fingers play a rhythm across his knuckles. "And you can't kill the person who made the science?" 

She laughs at that, and it is a beautiful sound. "I fear he is long dead already, and even if you could, it wouldn't make winter go away." She swings their hands joyfully. "Science is truth. It reveals the mysteries of the world. Magic in Cephiro creates, but Science on Earth discovers. They serve entirely different functions." 

Ferio thinks about that for a while, letting the sound of the waves crash against his skull. He shrugs, and smiles back at her. "Well, guess I've got a lot more discovering to do then."

-\|/-

The next time they come, Fuu brings him books. Ferio has never been the reading type, so he is initially skeptical. Books are something Master Mage Clef is more interested in than he is, but this is for Fuu, so he doesn't protest much. 

It isn't a very complicated book, to say the least, but it still baffles him. Each page has an image, and some very intricate looking writing. It's nothing like the writing in Cephiro -which he only marginally remembers ever using. It's way more complicated, and though he knows what a decent amount of the images are -apple, cat, ball- it seems impossible to figure out why the writing for such simple things is so complicated. 

Fuu only gives him a knowing smile, and they slowly work through things. She shows him which sounds equal which strange symbol, and things like that. She also pulls out a writing utensil, and has him drawing the symbols himself. He watches her, tries himself, and realizes that he really isn't any good at this at all. Fuu is patient with him though, and when she leaves, he vows that he will be much better by the time she gets back. She leaves the books for him, and paper for him to practice, so he does. 

He doesn't get much better, but he remembers what it was like to swing a sword for the first time, and how hard it was. Now, he can swing his large sword without even a second thought. He doesn't think he'll ever be that good at this whole writing thing and 'Japanese' as Fuu calls it, but he's going to try.

-\|/-

She ends up correcting him a lot. Some of the symbols look way to similar for him to really distinguish between them and that messes him up a lot. Fuu is patient in her corrections, but blunt when he does something wrong. It's best that way in the end. He'd rather her tell him exactly what he's doing wrong, then skirt around the issue. Though, he did wish he was getting better fast. He feels like he doesn't want it enough, so it isn't coming, but Fuu tells him that's the wrong way to think about it. In Cephiro, wanting something bad enough usually means you'll get it, but he's learning earth things, and the will is only one aspect of things on Earth. Ferio doesn't get it, but he works hard at it regardless. She brings him new books every time, and he's starting to realize that he likes the books she brings. They're all simple things -Fuu jokingly says they're for young children- but Ferio is getting a hang of things, even if it's hard. More accurately, he likes to think so. 

One day, she brings him one that doesn't have any pictures. It's small, but the only thing in it is the written symbols. He tries to work through it, but it's difficult for him to recognize things, and even if he knows he's seen a symbol before, he doesn't always remember it. It takes him a disgustingly long time to hunt through his other books to find one lousy symbol, and find the colorful picture that goes with it, so that he can remember what it's supposed to mean. Then not long after, he run into another one he recognizes, and has to do it all over again. Sometimes, he runs into the same one twice, and doesn't remember it the second time, goes to hunt it down again, and gets even more frustrated when he realizes he's already looked it up again that day. And that is all up until he reaches a character he's never seen before, and he has no idea what it is suppose to be. There are little characters on top -the less complicated ones- and he knows what they are suppose to sound like, so when he sounds them out, he can recognize the word well enough. But, even still, he can't be sure he's getting it right. It's really complicated, and doesn't make any sense at all. Or maybe it does make sense, and he's to frustrated to admit it. Regardless, it is hard. He wants the pictures back.

He doesn't want to admit that it's too hard for him, so he doesn't. He doesn't want it enough, is what he thinks, but he has to remind himself that isn't how it works, though he has no idea how that could be. It's some sort of mantra that he has to keep reminding himself. 

When Fuu comes next, she brings back one book without pictures, this one is small too, and several with pictures. He really wants to just reach out for the ones with the pictures, but his pride makes him pick up the one without the pictures while she's there. He wants to show her that he has been working on it, that even if wanting it doesn't mean anything, he does want it. It doesn't go well, he tries to read it, and she patiently corrects him at every turn. He wants to be better at it than this, but it just isn't happening. Fuu can tell that he's getting frustrated, even if he tries not to show it, and she smiles and encourages him. She isn't one for false praise, so he believes her when she says that he is doing very well, even if he doesn't really think so. He does admit that it's hard, and she smiles at him.

Ferio continues to work at it, it doesn't get easier, but he thinks he can recognize more of the characters. He isn't feeling good about the whole thing, but he is feeling better. Then she brings him what Fuu calls a dictionary. It doesn't have any pictures, and the characters are really, really small, and he wonders how this could possibly be useful until she describes to him what it is meant to do. A dictionary is a collection of words, and it is meant to tell you how to say the word, how to write the word, and what the word means. This seems like a great thing to him, until he actually tries to use it. He looks up a character he's been having trouble with, and where as it does tell him how to say it, the definition has another character in it, that he doesn't know. He ends up having to look that one up too. One word leads to another, and another and another and before he knows what's going on, he's forgotten what he actually wanted to know. It's confusing, but all of it is confusing. 

He decides that he's only going to use the dictionary for emergencies, and that he's going just keep circling words he knows and writing simple notes and little pictures on the books, and cross referencing with other books that he's already made marks on, and that should be much easier than using the dictionary. And it is, for a while. But he surprises himself with just how much he writes. Before he knows it, his books are so marked up with ink and little pictures of this and that, that they're difficult to read. Fuu thinks his drawings and notes are adorable. He thinks he might need new books. It does take in a decent amount of time to still track down a word, when he recognizes it, but can't place it, but he's getting better at recognizing them, and faster at it too. One ones he doesn't know, he circles, and saves for later, when he feels he has the patience and focus to deal with the dictionary. Fuu usually helps him with the words before he gets to that point though. 

She brings him more and more books, and she also brings him a note book, so that he can start making his notes and pictures on the notebooks, and not necessarily on the books. He does both. 

As he continues to get better, she continues to bring him more and more books. They aren't easy, like the ones with lots and lots of pictures were, but he does think he's getting the hang of it. It isn't enough, but it is something. And when Fuu visits, she brings a book that she reads to him. This one has no pictures, at all. Just words, and it's thick. They labor through it, she reading slowly, and he pointing out to words he doesn't know, and having her say them again and again and then showing him how to write them in his notebook, and then him practicing to write it. They get through the book after what seems like forever, but he honestly feels like an idiot. Remembering the new words are hard, and he's always asking her what the same word is over and over and over, and to top it all off, when she asks if he likes it, all he can do is look at her blankly, because he really doesn't remember what it was about. She giggles at him, and he would be irritated if it was anyone but Fuu, because her laughter is bells and dew drops and a warm breeze on his face and all that mushy nonsense and he earned that laugh. 

Sometimes, instead of looking at books, they take walks. They lace their hands, and Fuu talks about all the books he'll be able to read. About ones that explain science -he doesn't know if one can 'explain' science, but he humors her, she is the expert after all- and ones that tell stories and all sorts of books. Fuu just lights up when she talks about it. Books about this and that and telling this story and that story, and he is just enthralled at how vibrant she is about that. So he listens to her, as she talks and talks and talks, about books and books and books. 

He hopes that one day, he'll talk with her about books and books and books, and not just listen about books and books and books.


End file.
